FINCHforum

Help a newb.
I'm going to construct a finch flight that 24" tall 24" deep by 6 feet long. I was going to use a plexiglass front and black painted mesh for the end doors. Is the overall size of the cage ok?
I had been given 6 zebra finches in a 18x18x24" tall cage and feel this is cage I was given is way too small. The previous owners were either going to let them go outside or destroy the animals and I told them I would take them. I have no knowledge of finches but had cockatiel's and parakeets when I was young.
I'm also thinking of making a 1/2" plywood pull out tray that has a 1/2" lip all the way around. I was going to use the left over fiberglass resin I had from redoing my old boat to seal it. Would this be acceptable? Can I use some natural red oak branches as perches. They still have the bark on them or can I use poplar branches?

Please help I've been reading for a week here and more than two online and have received an overload of info that is also very conflicting.

Hi and welcome to the forum! How wonderful of you to take them in!
I can't answer your construction questions, but as far as the size goes, it sounds likeit should be great for 6 finches. There is a calculator on the finch info center that you can use to determine appropriate size/ number of birds:
http://www.finchinfo.com/housing/cage_s ... ulator.php
I punched in the dimensions you mentioned and it gave 6-8 birds.
The 6' length sounds amazing, as length is the most important dimension for finches.
Good luck!

Hello! Nice to have you onboard with us! I've never built an aviary but it sounds like you are headed in the right direction and natural branches for perches is great! You can bake the branches in your oven (if they'll fit) for a little while or you can bleach/wash them to kill any tiny bugs on them. Some just cut the branches and put them in their cages.

Congrats on taking in the birds and again - welcome to the Finch Forum! Can't wait to see pics of your project!

That's a decent sized cage for six birds...trouble with zebras...they won't stay six for long..
If you are building it for heavens sake put a divider in the middle...it makes it so much easier to clean and catch birds.Not as pretty as an uninterrupted front but makes life a lot easier...trust me..

This cage of mine is 8 feet long.

With regard to the resin and floor trays..polyester resin is made to leave a tacky surface when used in a thin coat.This is to aid bonding when it is being laminated.If you are using say a jar full...add a small spoonful of liquid car wax to the mix...this will leave a non sticky finish.(Used to be my trade)

Ok resin idea is out. Left it in my unheated garage over winter.

Came up with another idea. What if I use a slide out tray made out formica? I would put a 1/2" lip on it sealed with silicone to contain all the fun mess. The ends would be sealed and the birds would actually have a 1/2 square wire cloth floor that would sit above it. Would that be an easy enough slide out tray to keep clean?

The other idea was to have one bent out for me made out of galvanized sheet metal. My friend is a duct work installer. He said it'd cost about $30 but would not be able to get it done for over a month. An aluminum version would be over $65.

I also just bought a 36 x 72 sheet of plexi-glass at Fleet Farm for only $30. Cheapest I found for that size. Building should begin the end of this week.

Have yet to get the mower out, need to do wheel bearings on the boat, rear brakes on the Jeep and readjust my well's pump pressure before i can start the cage according to the better half.

Main frame is coming together nicely. Ended up going with a 6' long 24" high and 20" deep for the size. It will be a wall mount unit with a slide out tray. Had two major mishaps since I last posted.

I left my window open near the cage where it is hung on a ceiling hook. We had really high winds while I was out of town. I came home to a cage on the ground in pieces. 1 Zebra finch has disappeared. My guess is one of my Beagles did it in. There are still 5 left. I learned my lesson and now they are hung up by an eye bolt, not just a hook for now. I also moved them away from the windows and are now locked in a room away from my Beagles if they happen to get out.

Second thing is the lexan I bought has cracked almost in the middle. I do not have cash for another so it will have support boards in the middle of it now.

I would design as Poohbear mentioned, so you can divide the cage.
1 - makes it easier to clean, when you can shoo them to the other side.
2 - makes it easier to catch them, when they have a smaller area to fly around in, and the smaller the space the easier to catch them.
3 - big poop trays are difficult to handle. multiple smaller trays will be easier to handle.

When you make a divided cage you have to either
- if you do not use a floor grate, make it divided all the way to the bottom of the cage
- if you use a floor grate, make it divided to the floor grate or the bottom of the cage.
The reason for this is, the birds will find any small gap to sqeeeeeeze thru to get to the other side. I have to rebuild one of my cages to fix this problem.

Finally, 5 birds is not a good number to have. They will pair up, and the odd bird out sometimes gets picked on. Keep an eye on them, and watch the odd birds out.